A REMARKABLE letter written by Albert Einstein to a close friend which slams Neville Chamberlain for appeasing Hitler has emerged for sale.

This letter was penned on October 10, 1938, just 10 days after the English Prime Minister signed the Munich Agreement which effectively ceded Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany.

The German-born physicist displays impressive prescience as he accurately predicts that Chamberlain's stance would embolden Hitler to carry on his European expansion.

He goes on to say: "I do not have any hope left for the future of Europe."

The two-page letter was addressed to Michele Besso, a Swiss engineer who was a close friend of Einstein during his years at the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich and then at the patent office in Berne where Einstein helped him to get a job.

Einstein lambasts Chamberlain for 'hoping Hitler might let off steam by attacking Russia' and states that 'we will come to see once more that shrewdness does not win in the long term'.

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He goes on to say: 'I do not have any hope left for the future of Europe'

In his no holds barred letter he bemoans the rise of the far right in Europe, which he claims has been facilitated by Western governments, and goes as far as to say 'I wouldn't want to be alive if I didn't have my work'.

The letter, which is written in German, was sent to Besso in Berne, Switzerland, from Einstein's home in Princeton, New Jersey, US, where he had lived since 1935.

He wrote: "You have confidence in the British and even Chamberlain? 'Oh holy innocence'.

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"In France, he pushed the left into a corner and, in France as well, helped give power to those people whose motto is 'better Hitler than the Reds'.

"The extermination policy against Spain already showed this clearly.

"Now he saved Hitler in the nick of time by crowning himself with the wreath of love of peace and inducing France to betray the Czechs.

"He did all this in such a clever way that he deceived most people, even you (unfortunately).

"I do not have any hope left for the future of Europe.

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The letter is tipped to sell for £20,000

"America valiantly joined in with the effort to strangle Spain.

"For here too, to all intents and purposes, money and the fear of Bolshevists prevail or, just in general, the fear of the owning class for their privileges.

"I wouldn't want to be alive if I didn't have my work."

The two page letter measures 8.5in by 11in and comes with its original envelope postmarked Princeton, October 11, 1938.

It has most recently been in the hands of a private collector and is tipped to sell for £20,000.

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The letter was penned on October 10, 1938, 10 days after Mr Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement

A spokesperson for Nate D Sanders, a US based auction house who are selling the letter, said: "This is an exceptional and lengthy autograph letter signed by Albert Einstein in October 1938, 10 days after English Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement.

"Einstein here shows that his sharp mind extends beyond physics to also include the nuances and repercussions of international diplomacy.

"While most people praised Chamberlain for avoiding war by appeasing Hitler, Einstein accurately predicted that it would embolden Hitler and do further damage to European alliances."

Besso was one of Einstein's closest friends.

In a letter of condolence to the Besso family following his death in 1955, Einstein wrote: "Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me.

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"That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."

Einstein died barely a month after Besso, on April 18, 1955.

The Munich Agreement was a settlement allowing Hitler to annex portions of Czechoslovakia along the country's borders mainly inhabited by German speakers.

The agreement was signed in the early hours of September 30, 1938 after being negotiated at a conference held in Munich among the major powers of Europe, excluding the Soviet Union. It was signed by Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy.

Eleven months later, Germany invaded Poland and the world was once again at war.